Anyone have any set up tips and the best way for these tents to stay taut while set up? I am not sure if I am liking this tent...We have the Rainshadow 2 with the built in floor

We set it up last weekend on a combination of granite and shallow dirt..so was not able to stake it out very good. It flapped like crazy all night....we used two treking poles in front.

I am assumming these will set up better if staked in deep dirt using a stronger longer stake??But you can't always find deep soft dirt to put your tent.So staking it with rocks if setting it up on solid granite or a combination.

Becasue it was windy that night we really could feel the wind hitting us along the edge where the sewn in floor is...there is a mesh panel all the way around.

maybe I am not doing something right..I know a lot of people love these tents...we love the room we have inside..but I am just not sure if this is the tent for us.Any suggestions thoughts?

Hi Anita,I only have the floorless, older Squall, been fortunate I guess as I have never been completely on rock or shallow soil. When on a challenged area, I put a stake or stick thru my corner guy out line loops then set some rocks on that. Kinda tough on solid rock with high winds as there is going to be a tendency to pull the rocks. May have to find a more suitable spot. My Tarptent doesn't flap, but I haven't been in high winds with it since I got it I guess. Some windy spots, long ago, were up at Gilmore and Suzie.

Hi Duane...Thank you...I think you are right about putting it up in a better place with more dirt...the flapping all night and the breeze coming in at us was not all that pleasant We have had this tent for about 3 years..but have only used it with the two of us one other time half way up Taboose Pass..we had more soft deep dirt...so it was more taut and was set up better.

Maybe I will play around with it here....I am so used to a freestanding tent with a rainfly as a double protection...our old one is so easy to set up..but it's a lot more heavy

It was very very lonely without our doggies..especially at camp...already two weeks since Lucy passed over..we miss her terribly. July 4th they would have turned 12...so to celebrate their birthdays and also in memory of all of them and their mother Lara Lai we packpacked to the 1st place we took them on their 1st backpacking trip in 1998...off of Ebbetts Pass..it was a much needed healing trip for both of us...it had been almost two years since I last backpacked..it was awesome to have my pack on again...I know the doggies were happy we did it Our home is very lonely and empty without any furry friends.Thank you for asking

I find my TarpTent breezy too, just the way the are made with the netting around the bottom. I understand the Tyvek Sublight's are cool or cooler, even in the sun. I know a few years ago when I was in the Silver Pass area at Bighorn Lake, it was a cool day, but when the sun was on my Squall, I had to get out of it, it was too warm. I love the TarpTent's weight, just don't like the condensation in the fall or after a rain. They have their place.

The last few years it has been a little lonely on my solo summer trips, realized last year in the Fall, that I was missing the company of Pooch.

AnitaI have not used a rain shadow but it looks to be a variation of the Cloudburst. In order to pitch it tight I would suggest that you attach some pc cord to the rear corners through the webbing the rear pole attaches to. This makes the tent much more taut than using only the single rear anchor. Then you need to find some pretty heavy rocks, preferably relatively rectangular and use those to anchor your tent. I hardly ever tie onto the rocks (the three way cord for the rear is ideal for simply plunking down a large on top of the two outside cords with the middle cord on top) but simply tie a clove hitch around the middle of a stick or even a tent peg, stretch out the pc cord or twine attached to the tent and place the rock on the cord or twine with the stick or tent peg laying flat on the ground at a 90 degree angle to the tent. I've pitched both my old Cloudburst and my Contrail on rock slabs and they have remained tight--remembering that the sylnylon will stretch after you set it up and will a little more after it gets wet. At any rate I have learned to tighten the tent up a couple of hours after the initial set up. Remember that setting up Henry's tents is almost art and every situation will be a little different.

Oh, I just read Duane's reply carefully and see that he already explained how to use pegs or sticks and rocks.

Cheers

mike

Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!

I love my Squall (built-in floor)! Pitches flawlessly in dirt, but above Guitar Lake a couple of weeks ago I found that I'd underestimated how large the rocks had to be to tie the thing down in the absence of dirt and had to get up a couple of times in the middle of the night to retrieve a flailing line (it was windy, of course, as it nearly always is up there). I had tautness issues on several nights but realized when I came home that I'd been extending my trekking pole too much, so it was fifteen cm or so longer than the pole that came with the Squall; I think the difference in angle made the top of the tent less taut.

I don't know whether the Rainshadow has side ties or not, but we've found that the side pull-out ties on our Squall are absolutely essential in any serious rain. They keep the drips from coming in onto the floor.

There were some usual wind problems...obviously tent not designed > for the 55+ mph winds...(took down immediately), but usually after finding my sheltered evening spot, as I find the stake-down method easiest, I additionally place boulders carefully over pegs to hold everything solid, there is still some flapping in the usual Sierra breeze. After examining my tent today to store, I see some areas of chaffing on two of the corners, where the wind rubbed the tent against the granite anchors. Right now they are only minute holes...match-head size...whole areas (2) about the size of quarters...but obviously the fabric is weaker here...could spread/tear next time.

Thus, I need a small patch kit (will pay credit card/ PayPal)...maybe a few (4) dollar-bill sized patches...or instructions on how best to proceed in the repair...fabric, adhesive...what is your best recommendation to proactively extend the tent's life? Thanks, Mark

Hi Mark, I'll drop some scrap fabric in the mail for you. Cut to fit and glue it on with pure silicone. Smooth and press edges to remove all air gaps and let dry. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks. Henry Shires Tarptent 12213 Koswyn Ct. Nevada City, CA 95959 USA ph: 650-587-1548 fax: 801-459-9526 e-mail: info@tarptent.com

Henry is great! If only I could convince him to create a "super rainbow" that would accept my wife and my Exped delux downmats. I've just passed 40 nights in my tarptent Contrail and just had my first wear issues--stitching coming out in one location where zipper connects to tent floor (easily fixed) and ribbon used for adjusting one of the mini rear tent poles tore free and disappeared. (there is a workable workaround for this problem but true fix will take a little more effort). At any rate I will use it next month on my third Yosemite trip of the season with the zipper repaired but using the workaround for the rear pole.

I am really impressed with the quality of the mosquito netting henry uses. My Big Agnes Seedhouse SL with a dozen nights use shows much more wear in the mosquito netting.

Mike

Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!

Forty days and forty nights, eh? Hope it didn't rain all that time, or I might be tempted to start building an arc...

I had one interesting issue on my recent Sierra trip: one of the zippers on the mosquito netting appeared to get thoroughly stuck, and I was grumbling about possibly having to get an expensive repair. However, cleaning the tent did the trick! Evidently the zippers can get dust in them (we were in some extremely dusty campsites, mostly in overused places like Tuolumne's and the Valley's backpacker's campground), which makes them stick. Just a word to the wise...

Actually experieced about a half dozen significant thunderstorms and several lesser sprinkles with no leakage issues. My first generation Cloudburst was designed so that the zipper would lay on the dirt. I had it reconfigured by a friend so that the floor became a tub and the zipper was out of the dirt. I think Henry did a similar design change on subsequent models. Same friend resewed the separating zipper on my Contrail so I will be good to go in the Sierra in a couple of weeks.

Mike

Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!